


Break the Walls (Punk!Michael AU)

by AliceMalefoy



Category: 5 Seconds of Summer (Band)
Genre: Abusive Relationship, Drugs, F/M, Punk, Punk!Au, Punk!Reader - Freeform, Rape, Tattoos, Twins, punk!michael
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-07
Updated: 2016-08-07
Packaged: 2018-08-07 05:04:03
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 6
Words: 15,349
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7701859
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AliceMalefoy/pseuds/AliceMalefoy
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Sophomore Michael had a crush on Eden, the rebel with tattoos blooming on her skin and piercings in her dimples. At the time, that pink-haired little demon felt out of reach, but fours years later, when they come across each other, it somehow clicks between them.<br/>Michael was more confident, and Eden more settled. Neither of them could have imagined what would happen when their eyes locked in the middle of the street that day.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. "You've changed"

**Author's Note:**

> Warning: Abusive relationship; swear words; mention of sexual topics; physical/sexual violence; suicidal thoughts; drugs;

Honestly, Michael thought he was hallucinating when he saw her.  
He remembered blinking a few times, rubbing his eyes and shaking his head, but regardless of what he did, she didn’t vanish in the air. Her name popped in his mind the second he laid his eyes on her, though he hadn’t her of her for over two years. For Christ’s sake, his High School crush was just across from the street!  
She still looked the same. Her hair seemed a little longer, but she still sported a side cut some strands of hair were tied into small braids which she used to tie it into a ponytail. It was still dyed in that crazy pastel pink fashion. There was a cigarette tucked between her lips, and she had these huge dark circles under her eyes. That was something new.  
The horn of a car made him realize he had taken a step forward to cross the road, and he jumped back onto the sidewalk. What was he thinking? He couldn’t just go and talk to the girl just like that! They didn’t know each other just because Michael spent most of his time staring at her back in High School.  
“Shit!” He cursed out loud, causing a few by-passers to glare at him. He ran his fingers through his messy hair, ruffling it a bit. He took a step back, started walking away. Stopped. Turned around. Walked towards her, crossed the road, and when she was three meters away from him, he stopped again.  
For a split second, their eyes met. It hit him hard when he realized he had never really seen her eyes before today. She was always looking down, avoiding people’s creepy stares, or kept her eyes closed while listening to her music instead of going to the cafeteria like everyone else. But their color moved him deeply. Michael didn’t recall ever seeing such a warm shade of brown. Shiny, chocolaty brown eyes with golden sprinkles in them.  
She cleared her throat, causing the boy to go back to reality. He noticed that they were facing each other – she had walked to him obviously. He had stared too long, dammit.  
“Are you done staring at me or do you want a picture?” She asked when she got his full attention. The answer was stuck someone between his brain and his mouth. Michael stopped breathing. The last – and first – time they had been that close, it was in a drastically different context.  
The unwelcome memories of that night came back in flashes, as Michael tried to chase them away. It was sophomore year, it was a frat party and some of his friends had managed to sneak in, and there she was. In the dark, she probably didn’t even see him, but Michael would have recognized her anywhere. The lack of light, the sweaty dancing bodies everywhere and the alcohol helped him a lot that night, because without those things he wouldn’t have built up the guts to hit on her like he did. He had to shake his head when the flashbacks of how she took his virginity in the bathroom popped up.  
Her cigarette flew to the ground and she stepped on it with her worn out Dr Martens. Those, he remembered clearly.  
“When you check a girl you, you might want to be a little less obvious, dude,” she snapped, ready to walk away.  
Panicking at the thought of seeing her leave so soon, Michael said, “Don’t you remember me?”  
Fucking hell, that was the last thing he wanted to say. If she actually did remember him, the only option left was to run away and move to Mexico. He was so ashamed when he thought about his first time that the simple thought made him wince. For a second, she seemed to think about it seriously, gazing at him, as if trying to trigger her memory. She eventually shook her head.  
“You seem somewhat familiar,” she admitted. Michael’s shoulders fell down at her words. “Have we fucked?”  
Out of all the scenarios about that conversation which have crossed his mind since the beginning of it, Michael did not consider this question an option. A mental nosebleed seemed like an appropriate reaction.  
“You know what? Just forget it,” he shrugged it off, giving up. “But since you’re asking, yeah, we fucked. In a toilet, if that rings any bell.”  
The boy and his wounded ego turned around. He had only taken a few steps in the opposite direction when he heard her scoff with disdain. He froze mi-gesture and spun on his heels. He raised an eyebrow.  
“Honestly, how many guys do you think that knocks out?” She asked, sarcastically.  
Michael’s jaw hung open, and he opened and closed his mouth a couple times like a fish out of water.  
“Oh sorry,” the girl laughed, making it clear she wasn’t actually sorry. “Am I shocking you?”  
“Shouldn’t I be?”  
“If what you said is true, then no,” she shrugged. “What’s my name?”  
Now it was Michael’s turn to scoff. The years of self-consciousness and shyness were behind him, and at this exact moment, he wondered why he was ever intimidated by her. He had to bite his tongue to refrain the urge to ask her if she forgot it.  
“Eden,” he finally answered.   
He thought this would be it, and Michael was ready to turn around and leave her alone when suddenly, her smug expression disappeared. Without the smirk on her face and her cocky attitude, she seemed five years younger, and when she looked at him, it was with round, wide-opened eyes. Those fucking golden brown eyes he couldn’t stop looking at.  
“Michael?”  
Michael heard a gasp. He would bet it didn’t come from her. Eden closed the space between them and stood right in front of him, making their height difference even more evident. Their chests almost touched.  
Freckles. She has freckles on her nose and her cheeks. How goddamn cute was that?  
Michael shook his head.  
“I didn’t even recognize you,” she said, putting a hand over her mouth. “You’ve changed so much…”  
To be honest, he never thought she knew his name, let alone remember his pathetic sexual performance, and he was at loss for words when she told him he had changed. That meant she had noticed him even when they were in High School, doesn’t it? Gosh, now he was over-thinking.  
“I’m so sorry for being rude, I just get so many creepy stares all the time,” she apologized, taking a step back. It was then that Michael realized he had stopped breathing, when the air came back to his lungs.  
He was still deciding if he was happy or mortified that she remembered him. Probably a bit of both, but right now, mostly the second one.  
The part of him was genuinely joyous though, and when she twirled around, he couldn’t help but look at the way her red dress followed her movements. It only covered little of her body, but she was covered in tattoos. Her arms, her cleavage, her legs, were all covered in colorful tattoos, and her outfit was clearly meant to show them all. Oh my God Michael, you pervert, don’t look at her like that!  
“I think you’re the first person from High School I’ve seen since we graduated. It’s been so long!” She was suddenly bubbly and Michael didn’t know how to react. He did, after all, not know her, apart from that party where they hooked up.  
Looking down, his eyes landed on her arms, and for the first time ever – since it was dark as night in those toilet – he could see what her tattoos represented.  
Her left arm was covered in Disney villains and other one with Princesses. How… freaking… adorable…  
“… unless you don’t want to, of course,” she said, her voice a little unsure as she bit on her lower lip, playing with the spider bite piercings. His lack of reaction alarmed her. He had dozed off. Shit! The girl of his dreams was talking to him and all he found to do was dozing off.  
“I’m sorry, I got caught in my thoughts, what’d you say?” Michael asked, feeling his face burn out of embarrassment.  
“I said, maybe we could… meet again? Just hang out, if you’re okay with it?” She asked in a soft whisper, her big eyes not leaving him.  
Forget what he thought before, it wasn’t less intimidating talking to her now. Michael’s knees were practically giving way, and he felt like he should stay still for a while, because he might just fall to the ground if he tried to walk. He nodded his head with enthusiasm.  
“Yeah! Sure, I’d love to,” he exclaimed, hoping that his voice didn’t betray how eager he was. “Tomorrow?”  
Eden bit her lip and flinched a bit, before saying, “I can’t tomorrow, sorry. What about Tuesday?”  
Michael shrugged. Even if he had planned to have tea with the Queen of England that day, he would still ditch her for Eden. “That’s alright with me,” he smiled, earning an equally bashful smile in return.  
He had to clear his throat before speaking again, “Were you waiting for someone?” God, hopefully she’ll say no. Hopefully she’ll not say she was waiting for her boyfriend.  
“No, I- I wanted to go to that shop but I was too early, it only opens in ten minutes,” she said, pointing to a washed-off façade a few meters away from them. It looked like a thousand posters have been glued to the windows and scratched off, leaving small pieces of paper here and there and traces of glue. The door was closed and the ‘closed’ sign was still hanging there. Yet, you could hear music coming from the small store.  
“What’s it?” Michael asked.  
“The owner is a friend of mine. He’s got a collection of records and he also sells all sorts of things like dream catchers, lucky charms, and other bullshit,” she laughed. “If you have the password, he also sells weed in the back of the shop.”  
Michael shook his head, “Nah, I’ve never done that crap.”  
“I’ve tried,” Eden shrugged. “But really, nothing gives me more of a high than good music, and weed smells terrible.” In that moment, Michael felt a strange thing happen in his chest. Of course, he always knew she loved music! All she did at school was blasting loud alternative rock in her headphones, but getting to talk to her about music was another thing.  
“You like music?” He heard his own voice ask and suddenly, the boy felt the urge to smash his head against the nearest wall. Of course she likes music you fucking idiot, why else would she go to a disc store? “That was a really dumb question, sorry,” he immediately said, shaking his head.  
A crystalline laugh answered him. “It’s alright,” the girl told him, pushing away his doubts with a simple hand gesture. “Do you wanna come in with me? I’m warning you: it smells of herbal candles and coconut incense in there.”  
“Well, my room smells of sweat and Axe deodorant, I think I can handle the smell of a hippie shop,” he tried to joke but wanted to slap himself at the same time. Yes buddy, talk to the girl you have a crush on about your body secretions. Much charming, very elegant.  
“That’s… insightful,” she nodded, not really knowing what to do with that information. Michael put his hands on his face when he felt his cheeks heat up.  
“Jesus Christ, I can’t believe I said that,” he whined.  
“It wasn’t that bad,” Eden argued, though not in a very convincing way.  
Michael looked at her from between his fingers, still hiding his face. “Really?” He asked.  
Eden started shaking her head in a serious manner but she soon cracked a smile and before she could stop it, a laughter escaped her lips.  
“S-Sorry,” she said, in between two fits of laughter. “That was terrible Michael. Never.. say that… to a girl, ever again.” She put her hand over her mouth and calmed down while he looked her at, fascinated by how lightly she laughed with him. Suddenly, he didn’t care anymore that he passed for an idiot.  
“I’ll take that piece of advice,” he agreed. And before saying more stupid things, he offered her his arm, watching her amused stare at his very courteous gesture, and led them both to the shop.


	2. "You'll never gues who I met today"

“You’ll never guess who I met today,” Eden said, letting her bag drop to the floor and jumping on the couch as soon as she stepped into her tiny apartment. A box with the letters “Domino” was on the table and she opened it, only to find two slices of cold pizza left.  
A deep voice coming from the bedroom answered her. “No, but I have a feeling you’re going to tell me.”  
The girl heard the ruffling sound of the sheets, then footsteps and soon, a tall blond boy stood there, wearing only his boxers. He was tattooed and pierced just like her, though it was far from the Disney tattoos that covered Eden’s upper body. The only light in the room came from the smoking cigarette he played with, turning it between his long fingers.  
“A girl again?” Eden sighed, making a small gesture with her chin toward the room behind the boy. He shrugged, and she knew it meant she was right.  
“I saved you pizza,” he said, walking to the couch and letting his tired body fall down into the squishy furniture. “I also cleaned the flat a bit. It started to smell like a fucking opium lounge.”  
“Who’s fault?” Eden groaned, glaring at the blond boy. His usually styled up hair was a complete mess, and she could only imagine how it ended up this way, not holding back her scoff of disgust. Another girl every day, another stranger in their apartment. A nameless face, leaving before the night, because he never allowed them to sleep with him.  
“So, tell me, who’d you see today?” He said, changing the subject because he knew it would turn into an argument if they followed that path.  
Eden pouted slightly and shifted on the couch so she was facing him. She took a bite of the cold pizza before speaking.  
“You have to guess.”  
The boy rolled his eyes.  
“Luke!” She shoved him in the shoulder. “Please?”  
“Do I know him?” He asked in a defeated sigh.  
“Yes.”  
“So it’s a boy,” he smirked. “Did you shag him?”  
Eden took an offended expression and for a second she considered storming off into another room, but Luke aimed right, and she couldn’t be mad for that, right?  
“I did,” she admitted. “But it was a looong time ago. You have to remember him, we were together in Hi-“  
“Shit,” Luke cursed, crushing his cigarette on the pizza box. “Eden no,” he shook his head with a frown on his forehead. “Not him!”  
“Why not?” The girl’s voice was barely a whisper and she looked down.  
“Can’t you get over your stupid little crush on him? It was ages ago!” The boy asked angrily.  
“Why don’t you say his name, I don’t even know if we’re talking about the same person,” Eden argued, boring her eyes into his this time. Every time she did so, she had a moment of hesitation when their eyes met. It was still strange for her to look up and see… her own eyes.  
“Michael, huh?” He huffed. “You shouldn’t see him again. You’ll only drag him down, he’s not like us, he’s not-“  
“What? Fucked up?” She asked, crossing her arms on her chest. “I’m not going to stay here all my life and watch you get an STD you know.”  
Luke suddenly stood up and grabbed her arm, lifting it up firmly, not flinching the slightest even when she tried to squeeze her way out of his grip.  
“Yes you will. As long as I have to see this, you will stay here with me,” he told her in an unwavering voice, looking down at her bruised elbows and knuckles.  
With that, he dashed out of the kitchen/living room, and into his room, leaving a teary eyed Eden behind him. She heard him yell something to the girl inside, and not even a minute later, she saw a half-naked blond sneak out of the room and quickly dress on her way to the door. The two girls did not look at each other. Eden knew she would never see the girl again. She was just the last of a long list.

*

“You’ll never guess who I met today,” Michael beamed like he had seen the sun for the first time. He looked down, watching the furry ball between his feet. As an answer, he got a soft meow. “Too bad you can’t talk buddy, I’m sure we would have great conversations,” the boy sighed and walked to his tiny kitchen, grabbing a beer in the fridge. The cat followed him like his shadow, jumping on the counter to get nearer.  
He started meowing even louder and scratched the wooden counter.  
“What is it buddy, you hungry?” Michael asked, already taking the food box out of the cupboard. “You sure are like me, always hungry.”  
He filled the cat’s bowl and sat down, watching him eat like he hadn’t fed him in a week. “I’m sure you remember her, I’ve already told you about her,” Michael kept talking to his cat. Nothing new under the sun. Living on his own turned him into a cat-man. No wonder he was still single.  
“Eden,” he pronounced her name like it was sugar on his tongue. Sweet but with a bitter after-taste. Nirvana looked up and then focused back on his meal. “Ha!” Michael exclaimed, pointing a victorious finger towards his furry friend. “I knew you remembered her!”  
As if realizing how ridiculous he was being, Michael blushed and sat down again.  
“Eden… yeah. Never thought I’d come across her again. But when I saw her I knew who she was right away, no doubt about that. She’s still so fucking gorgeous I can’t even breathe properly when she’s too close. And now I also know that she’s funny and kind.” The cat was finished eating and started making his toilet, ignoring Michael’s endless infatuated rumbling – just like he always did ever since he adopted him. “I just- I can’t wait to see her again.”  
And if Nirvana wasn’t too busy licking his own balls, he would have seen the goofy smile on his owner’s face, and he would’ve done the cat equivalent of rolling his eyes.

*

Two days later, they saw each other again, and this time Michael didn’t hesitate the slightest bit when he saw her waiting on a bench. Refraining the urge to jog towards her, he ran his fingers through his hair in an attempt to comb it and make it look less messy. With his palms sweating and his heart racing, he reached the bench.  
Legs crossed, face turned to the sun, Eden looked breathtaking. She wore black shorts, her signature Doc Martens, and a Guns and Roses tank dress that was slit on both sides from her waist down to her knees. It showed a bit of her hips and didn’t cover most of her back. Michael immediately gulped down when he realized she didn’t wear a bra under her dress.  
“Hey,” she greeted him with a smile. “Everything okay?”  
The dim light of the sunset made her hair glow.  
“I think I’ve never been better in my entire life actually,” he told her, joining her on the wooden bench. “You know,” he started, not really knowing where this was going. “I’ve been thinking about you, and I realized that we never spoke before.”  
Eden’s eyes squinted bit, and Michael didn’t know if he was the cause of it or the sun.  
“You were-“ he felt at loss for words. “Always… I mean, you were s-“  
“I was such a bitch, you can say it you know,” she shook her head.  
“That is not exactly what I was going to say but please elaborate,” the boy said, rather confused. “Wait, that’s totally not what I wanted to say, I was about to say something nice and flirty.” When the words left his lips, he felt like a complete idiot and wanted to smash his head in the sidewalk. Eden laughed lightly.  
“That’s nice, but I don’t think I deserve it,” she insisted. “I mean, I did fuck you in a public bathroom, if that’s not a good enough proof that I was a slut, I don’t know what is,” she kept putting herself down. The smile on her face had disappeared. Truth is: she too thought about Michael a lot since they ran into each other, and she came to the conclusion that she truly shouldn’t see him again. Luke was right, he was a good guy, and Eden had no right to drag him down to her level, just because she was tired of all the assholes creeping around her. Being with a boy like Michael must feel good, she thought when looking at his smile. But that she will never know.  
“I wasn’t complaining at the time,” he laughed. “Actually I was kinda hoping you didn’t remember that,” he admitted, a light blush tainting his cheeks.  
“Why?” The girl was taken aback, and titled her head towards him, genuinely curious.  
“It just- I don’t know but I was probably shit,” he mumbled, fiddling with the hem of his plaid shirt. Most definitely shit, given that I was a virgin, he thought though he kept it for himself. “Jesus, I can feel my face heat up whenever I think about it, it’s so embarrassing!”  
“I don’t agree, it was alright. I mean, I was drunk, you were drunk, and we were in tenth grade. I think we were okay,” she shrugged, smiling sheepishly. “Though I’m glad I improve in that area since then.”  
“Well said,” Michael nodded, agreeing with her. “Hey, did you have anything in mind for tonight?” After all, she was the one who had asked to see him again, but neither of them looked like they enjoyed to spend the evening in a fancy restaurant.  
“No, I thought we’d just crash in a bar or something,” Eden confessed.  
A smirk slit Michael’s face in two as he said, “So, are you up for a beach party?”  
The way he said it made it sound like a big adventure and Eden gladly agreed.


	3. A kinda cool nerd

The silliest grin was plastered on Michael’s face the whole evening. He couldn’t get his eyes off of Eden, watching her sip her drink, laugh, squeeze her way through the crowd to reach the bar and then come back to him the same way.  
“Dude, watch out your jaw’s hitting the ground,” a friend of his playfully told him, nudging him. “Mmh,” he resumed, checking the girl out from head to toe. “She ain’t half bad,” he finally decided.  
Michael frowned a bit, though he was glad she didn’t appeal to his friend, because if she did he would have to clear things up with him. Something about the way he said it bothered him nonetheless.  
“What could you possibly not like about her?” His incomprehension was visible on his face as he glared in his friend’s direction. The latter shrugged.  
“I don’t know, I think it’s all the tattoos and those-“ he pointed his finger at his own face.  
“Piercings?” Michael guessed. Dammit, she only had her lower lip, her nose and her dimples.  
“Who would want so many holes in their face? I say it hides something,” the guy continued, not noticing Michael’s somber eyes. “Look at her, man! Such a waste…”  
Luckily, he walked away before Michael lost his patience and threw his fist in his nose.  
“Michael?” Someone called him over the loud music. His head shot up, facing Eden’s. She laid a worried gaze on him. “Is everything okay, you look like you’re going to kill someone,” she observed very accurately.  
Indeed, his hands were clenched in fists and his knuckles were turning white. He would bet his jaw was just as tensed as the rest of his body. That was, until she put her hand on his arm.  
“I’m not gonna murder anybody, it was a close call though,” he said, not moving a muscle.  
“Let’s take a walk,” she offered, smiling kindly. “We have the entire beach for ourselves.”  
Without thinking twice, his hand covered Eden’s, which was still resting on his arm, and for a minute they stayed like this. Not talking, scarcely breathing, but just staring at their touching hands. Then, as if waking up from his trance, Michael nodded and stood up.  
“Alright, let’s go.”  
As he got off his stool, Michael kept their hands together, and slowly they walked away from the people and the music.  
“I’ve always wondered…” the boy started, letting his question unfinished.  
Eden looked at him, feeling her palms growing sweaty.  
“Your name… Is it a reference to the Bible?” He finally asked after a couple seconds.  
She chuckled. “You mean the garden of Eden? Yes it is. My parents never told me why they called me that…” Eden shrugged slightly. There was a time she wanted to know, but she lost interest.  
His hold of her hand tightened a bit, and she felt his fingers lace with her own. That was a lot harder than she planned. For hell’s sake, she wasn’t supposed to like him after all this time, and she didn’t want to burden Michael. Dating a girl like her was a burden.  
It was pretty tempting to forget about this though, especially when he looked at her so fondly.  
“Never too late to ask, ugh?” Michael continued, not noticing Eden's smile drop. Only silence answered him, and when he looked at her, he saw her staring at the ground, watching her naked feet dig in the sand.  
“Actually, it is,” she eventually told him. “My parents died right after graduation. Robbery gone wrong.” A little something in her voice was too detached to be true.  
Michael stopped in his track. “I'm so sorry,” he apologized, mentally slapping himself.  
“No harm,” she pouted. “It's life. Shit happens. Can't do anything about it, right?”  
“Right but- it's unfair,” he argued, which caused her to snicker almost inaudibly. “Do you live alone now?”  
“No! God no, I would have gone mad! I live with Luke,” she explained, her eyes scanning the wavering body of water stretching in front of them, licking the shore.  
“Oh.” Michael's hands became sweaty and suddenly, it made him uncomfortable to hold her hand. “Luke is that guy you were dating in High School, isn't he?” He asked, just to be sure. After all, he didn't want to be the fuckbuddy if she was already dating someone. Someone she was living with and dating since High School. Plus, he didn't stand a chance against his guy. His Michel's memory, he was really tall and broad and confident. The kind of guy he wished he was.  
“WHAT?!” The girl shrieked, the sound getting stuck in her throat as if the very idea was unfathomable. Wasn't she into hot tattooed dudes?? Nonsense.  
“Luke. The blond guy who always had his arm around your shoulders and looked like he would gut anyone who got near you,” Michael said, making sure they were talking about the same guy.  
“Yeah, I know who Luke is.” She shook her head, an unreadable smile on her face. “I wasn't dating him! Jesus Christ, he's my brother!”  
The sudden relief was so over-whelming that Michael's hair would have turned white if it wasn't already the case.  
“But... isn't he the same age?” He wondered out loud.  
“My twin brother,” Eden specified. “I know, we don't look alike, we get this a lot.”  
“I can't believe it!” Michael exclaimed. “All this time wasted because I thought you already had a boyfriend!”  
“What do you mean?” She questioned, not daring to believe he was saying what she thought he was saying. In twelfth grade she recalled being a real nasty bitch, always sleeping around with guys, making bad comments about other girls, not listening the lectures. If she could go back in time there would be lads of things she would change.  
Michael looked at her with his pierced eyebrow up. “Oh, c'mon, don't pretend you don't know. I had the biggest crush on you.”  
Eden had to look away before Michael could see her face turning crimson.  
“Not that it mattered that you had or had not a boyfriend actually. I wouldn't have had the guts to ask you out at the time, I was so... what's the right word? Un-cool?”  
“Nerdy?” Eden suggested, laughing at his attempt to describe himself.  
“Yes! That's the word! I still am though,” he realized, distraught. “I like to think that I leveled up a bit. Got from nerdy-loser to kinda-cool-nerd.” He shrugged it off.  
“Hey!” The girl let go of his hand and walked in front of him to stop him. With a hand on his chest and her big eyes dived into his, she said, “I think you're a really cool nerd.”  
Eden's heart was beating real fast by now, and she had to force herself not to kiss him. Only inches away from his face, that was really hard to accomplish. When she turned away and began to walk again, she didn't see the disappointment in Michael's eyes.  
But if she had seen it, she still would have walked away. Maybe even faster.  
Luke was right on all the levels, Michael was a good guy, and she was the bad guy. The only way to show him the kindness he deserved was to get out of his life as soon as possible and avoid him troubles. But chances like these weren't given to anyone, right? It's not like everybody got to see their teenage crush again and realize how much more nice and attractive they became over the years. Eden honestly didn't think she could just ignore her feelings and push him away – especially if it involved hurting him. But maybe she could keep her hands off of him and just be friends?  
It couldn't hurt anyone to try.  
Or could it?

*

It was beyond late when Eden and Micheal left the party and he insisted on walking her home. She tried to argue for she didn't really want him to see where she lived, but he insisted that it wasn't a safe part of the city, especially in the middle of the night.  
Little did he know that even though he was right, Eden was the last person to worry about that. The girl was known to be off-limits in her ill famed neighborhood.  
Nonetheless he walked her to her seedy building, and he didn't say anything about the sketchy aspect of the apartment to which she was thankful.  
“I had fun tonight,” she told him when he was saying goodbye. He looked a bit clueless standing there, hands in his pockets, chin down. “We should do that again sometime.” His smile reappeared. “You have my number anyway, so... text me whenever you want, 'kay?” She offered him a sheepish smile, trying not to give away how eager she was. Somehow, spending those few hours in his company had lifted a weight off her chest.  
“Will do,” he nodded happily.  
Giving in to the urge to hug him, Eden wrapped her arms around him and buried her face in his neck.  
Just for a second.  
And it felt too good. He hugged her back and when she wanted to pull away, she felt that he didn't want to let go and it made her smile. Eventually she said goodbye and pecked him on his cheek before walking in the dark hallway and waving off.  
During the way upstairs, Eden smiled in a goofy manner to herself, prepared to swallow down her smile in front of her brother. Luke couldn't know she'd seen him again. Soundlessly, the girl opened the door. She was surprised to see the door locked – it never was because locked or not, living in this part of the city meant that you'd get stolen from some day. She grabbed her key and sneaked in, her shoes in her hands so she wouldn't make any noise and wake Luke up.  
This usually worked well when she came home late, but not this time. A light made her jump in surprise and she let go of her shoes which made a loud thud when they hit the floor. Luke was sitting on the couch and he harbored a stern look.  
“How was your date?” He spat. Eden was about to reply with some witty sarcasm when she realized that her brother was indeed, genuinely angry.  
“Luke? What's wrong?” She asked hesitantly. He sighed tiredly and rubbed the bridge of his nose.  
“I thought I had made it pretty clear that I didn't want you to see him again,” he growled. This time, she reacted.  
“Oh sorry, it didn't occur to me that you were the decision-maker here! Should I remind you that we are the same age?” The girl stormed to the fridge to grab a bottle of water and was about to go to her room when Luke grabbed her arm.  
“I'm doing this for you, Eden!” He looked so angry right now, Eden didn't know what to say that would calm him down. “You think I like yelling at you? You just don't listen but one day you'll cross the line and realize that I was right! I don't want to see that day coming.” He let go of her arm when she pushed him away.  
“Stop acting like you're my dad Luke! And stop yelling for God's sake!” She exclaimed. “I don't wanna fight with you all the time! I'm tired of it.”  
Luke's expression softened a bit and he started biting his pierced lip, something he does when he was about to say something unpleasant.  
“Me too...” He sighed, his tone a bit too helpless for Eden's mind tranquility.  
“Luke, tell me what's going on. You sound upset, and not just about me.”  
For a long moment, he just stood there, his eyes not leaving her questioning gaze and he chewed his lower lip.  
Just when she was about to ask again, he spoke. “He came here today.”  
And something snapped inside her. “What?! Why would he do that?! Tell me what he said Luke!”  
Luke rubbed his face, suddenly looking older than he was and letting himself fall on the couch.  
“He wanted to see you, he asked where you were. I knew you were with Michael, from the moment I told you to stop seeing him I knew you'd do the exact contrary, so I lied. Do you know how freaking hard it was for me not to fucking punch his goddamn teeth out?”  
Eden sat down next to her brother. “I'm so sorry, he was never supposed to come here, I-”  
“I know, I know,” Luke cut short her apologies. “I just hate this guy. If he comes here again, I don't know what I'll do. Every time I see him I wonder why I haven't put a bullet in his skull yet.”  
When she spoke again, Eden's voice was shaking, “This is all my fault.”  
“No, it's not”, Luke soothed her, wrapping an aroma round her small frame and comforting her. “I'm sorry to say it again, but you have to avoid Michael. At least for now. He's probably in danger already. Ash must have placed guys to watch our building and if he decides that you're spending too much time with him, he's a dead man.”  
“I know,” she croaked out, a tear rolling down her cheek. “I just can't help myself, Michael's so nice with me. I forgot what it feels like.”  
“We'll work this out, I promise. You're my little sister, I won't let anything happen to you,” Luke vowed.  
“I'm not your little sister, we're twins,” she argued out of habit.  
“Yes you are,” Luke replied. “By eight minutes.”


	4. Two weeks of radio silence

Paradoxically the following week was both pretty intense and uneventful.   
It was very boring for Michael, who felt like nothing happened at all. He woke up, fed Nirvana, went to work – he worked at the music department in a mall – and repeated the same actions backwards. He missed Eden, and couldn’t stop thinking about how stupid it was not to kiss her when he had the chance on the beach that night. If he had done it, maybe she would be answering his phone calls now.  
Eden on the other side, didn’t know where to start with everything she had to do. She too had to work, she worked as hostess in a restaurant – a rather fancy one, which was a miracle because most of the time she was rejected for the tattoos – and Luke and her tried to stop arguing and find a solution to their problem.   
One of Eden’s new resolutions was to put space between her and Michael. And by space she meant geographical distance and emotional, that’s why she ignored his calls and messages. It was a lot harder to do than to say. Eden wanted to tell him why she was acting like that so bad. It seemed unfair to her that he didn’t get to know what was going on, but she also knew that it was for the best. He would get involved in this if she said anything. It broke her heart to know that he was probably calling her a bitch right now, thinking she had played him and that she was exactly the same as high school Eden.   
Luke put a stop to his daily hook ups. He knew it was saddening his sister to see him do that. He couldn’t really help, it was his way to cope with everything: the loss of their parents, their shitty apartment, College, Ash. Especially Ash. But then again, it was Eden the main actor concerned. No matter what he did, he couldn’t find a way to get his little sister out of her problems, and that fucked him up more than any drug he could take.   
The phone buzzed yet again, and the sound was amplified by the glass table on which Eden had put it. The girl started, almost dropping the book she was holding, for the hundredth time today. It was Friday night and Luke and her where about to go to sleep.  
“I’ll throw the goddamn thing out of the window,” Luke grumbled in his beard, making Eden smile a bit.   
“I’m turning it off,” she said, the phone already in hand. “He’ll stop texting”, she said, hopefully, before adding, “Eventually.” Her shaky hands betrayed how moved she was by the latest events. Since her beach date with Michael, Ash had called her an unfathomable number of times. At first she tried to ignore the calls but she knew it was useless: he knew where she lived, he could come and take her any time. If the nice way didn’t work, he’d come to the tough one, and that’s the last thing she wanted to happen. Coming to such an extremity was playing with fire.   
“Hey,” Luke nudged at her, giving her one of his rare smiles. “Don’t be sad.”  
“I’m not sure I can be anything but sad these days,” she said, gloomily.   
Ash coming here also meant that he’d want to show her she couldn’t escape him, or confront him. He’d make sure she wasn’t going to defy him again, and probably hurt Luke to make an example.   
“Shush,” Luke shook his head, a soft but reprimanding smile on his face, as he shifted closer to her and put his arm on his shoulders. The familiar gesture reassured her, and Eden’s head fell against his shoulder out of habit. “It’s not always gonna be like that. You’ll find a good guy one day, at a good time.”  
Hurting Luke was totally out of question, she would take responsibility and go see Ash before it was too late. And so she did. Without telling Luke – for he was already worried enough – she sneaked out at night and went to see Ash, who was waiting for her.   
Not replying with something childish like “But I already found a good guy, I don’t want another one!” was harder than she expected, but Eden swallowed it down and tugged at her sleeves. A purple bruise covered her forearm and Luke mustn’t see it.

*

Michael didn't want to be clingy, or creepy, so he tried to put a stop to his calls, and waited another week. He thought that maybe leaving her alone for a little while would do her good. There must be something he did wrong, and he'd have to ask her what it was.   
But today, two weeks had passed since the party and the intensity with which he missed her began to worry him. His common sense whispered him that he shouldn't feel like that, but he couldn't help. And maybe that explained why he was standing in front of Eden's door, knocking like a madman. It was eleven in the morning, on a Saturday and nobody answered – but that didn't stop Michael.   
Suddenly the door opened abruptly, causing Michael to almost fall inside the tiny apartment.   
“Who the fuck are you and what do you want?” An angry voice greeted the boy. He was face to face with a tall, sleep-deprived and angry blond boy covered in black and white tattoos and smelling of cigarette and after-shave. Luke. Eden's brother whom he thought was her boyfriend. Honestly, nobody would have guessed they were twins, they don't even have the same eye color.   
“I-eum, I'm Michael-” Michael stuttered, feeling his face heat up in embarrassment as he stood there, feeling Luke's glare on him.   
“Let me guess, Michael from high school, the Michael crushing on my sister since tenth grade? That Michael?” Luke asked sarcastically, leaning against the door frame, showing the boy he had no intention of letting him in. Michael nodded, a bit confused. “Listen, she's not here, and I need sleep, so go away.”  
“Do you know where I-”  
“I'm not gonna tell you where she is, okay?” Luke dead-panned. “Don't try to find her, stop calling her, she doesn't want to see you again. Now swallow down your fucking ego and find a girl who actually wants to be with you!”   
The doors slammed close and Michael stumbled back speechless and hurt like never before. 

*

To be perfectly honest, Michael's best quality was never being reasonable. After being shut down by Eden's brother, he left the building and power-walked through the whole goddamn city in a desperate attempt to calm down and maybe also to find her at the corner of a street.   
“What are you doing here?” A trembling voice broke his little bubble of anger.   
Michael's head shot up and there she was, the girl he spent two weeks running after, pointlessly. He looked for a hint of dread, or disgust, but her eyes were sparkling and she looked terrified in this moment. Was she... was she scared of him?   
She looked around, as if to make sure nobody saw them and wrapped her arms around her waist. She seemed uncomfortable. That's when Michael realized they were in front of the hospital, and her wrist was in a brace.   
“Eden,” he breathed out, and she shivered at the mention of her name. “Eden, what- what happened to you? Are you okay? I just went to your apartment, I-,” Michael started rambling, only noticing he had closed the space between them when he felt her tremble under his touch.   
“What are you doing here Michael?” She repeated, not answering any of his questions. Indeed, the hospital was out of town, he must have walked for ages to come here.   
“I don't know I just walked and...” he didn't finish his sentence and just gestured around, showing that he somehow ended up here without noticing. “And you? What happened to your wrist? Did someone hurt you?”  
“No!” She answered way too quickly, and she knew it. A long silence followed.  
“Was it Luke?” Michael asked angrily.   
“Luke?” She frowned. “No! No Luke would never do this, he doesn't even know! God, he's going to be so mad when he sees this, I was trying to postpone this...” Eden looked utterly panicked.   
“Hey, hey, hey,” Michael soothed her. “It's okay, calm down. Tell me what happened, maybe I can help,” he offered, pulling her against his chest.   
“It's nothing, nothing happened, it was an accident,” she lied. “I shouldn't be talking to you, Michael that's not a good idea.”  
“What?” He didn't understand. “Why would it be a bad idea? It didn't feel like a bad idea at all two weeks ago. What happened after the party? Eden, I need to know!” He demanded an explanation, but she looked so upset that he didn't dare push further when he saw the tears in her eyes. “Alright, don't answer, but at least let me bring you home. Did you take the bus?”  
She nodded her head, “Yes, but I don't have enough money to pay the ticket now. I used all my money to go to the hospital. It's okay I can walk.”  
“I'll drive you,” he shrugged. “My apartment is ten minutes away from here. We'll stop by and grab my keys.” It was supposed to be kind gesture but it seemed like another source of stress for the young girl. All colors left her face and she began to shake her head.   
“I don't know if that's a goo-”   
“Don't say no. Whatever happened the last two weeks, I wanna do that for you. Please let me do that.”  
Eden eventually agreed and they walked to Michael's apartment. They made small talk and Michael joked around in an attempt to make her smile. After a while, when she was a bit more relaxed he took her hand, but she tensed up right away. It was only after a couple minutes like this that she started breathing evenly again, to Michael's relief.   
When they reached his front door, she insisted on waiting him outside the building, but Michael managed to convince her to come with him.   
As soon as he opened his door, something unexpected happened. Eden's behavior changed completely, she dropped her guard and her eyes widened and began to sparkle like a kid on Christmas morning.  
“You have a kitty!” She exclaimed, reaching out for the small ball of fur at her feet. The cat seemed overwhelmed by the young girl's enthusiasm. She lift him up the floor and took him in her arms, under Michael's startled gaze.   
“I take it you like cats,” he chuckled. “May I introduce you to Nirvana.”  
“I love them,” she cooed, petting the purring animal. Truth be told, Michael didn't know which one from the cat or Eden purred the loudest. “Can we- can we stay for a minute? I'm not ready to go home yet.” The resignation in her voice was unbearable for Michael.   
“Sure, I'll get us a drink,” he said, closing the door and getting to the fridge. Eden sat on the couch and waited for him to come back, Nirvana still in her arms. She looked around and found a guitar in a corner, a pile of CDs. Michael had like a million cushions on his sofa and his kitchen was a mess, but everything felt so cozy and nice. For an unknown reason she was suddenly feeling sad and when she felt the couch sink beside her, she bit her lip.   
“Michael,” she said with a small voice. “Don't be mad at me, but we cannot be together. I- really... like you,” she breathed out, painfully. “I'd like nothing more than to stay here forever and never put a foot out again, but I can't do this.”  
“Why not?” He tried not to rush her.  
“I can't tell you. If I do, you'll be in trouble. If you aren't already...” She shook her head and let go of the cat, but Nirvana didn't feel like going away for once that someone paid attention to him.   
Michael put a hand on her arm and she looked up. “Listen Eden. You just said you liked me, and I like you too. I'm not even sure I ever stopped liking you since tenth grade! And I don't care if I have to fight for you, I will do it. The only reason that would make me give up on you is that you don't like me.”  
The tears almost spilled out at these words. Eden didn't know what it felt like to have someone care for you – someone else than her brother. Having someone not giving up on her was a foreign feeling.   
“I care about you too much to let you do this,” she said, short-breathed. “If you don't get away from me, you'll get in trouble, you'll get hurt. I don't want to be responsible for that.”   
“What about you stop worrying for me?” He smiled fondly, letting his finger brush against her cheek and push away a strand of her pink hair. She blushed from the proximity and Michael felt his stomach make a back flip. “Focus on yourself, take care of your wrist. I'm a big boy, nothing's going to happen to me.”  
The girl nodded in silence, her hand distractedly petting the furry ball nestled in her lap. A couple of minutes of silence later, she said she should probably go home, and the boy nodded. They left the apartment when they managed to make Nirvana let go of the girl.


	5. Damsel in distress

The lecture Luke gave them both when Michael and Eden arrived to the twins' apartment justified the girl's anxiety in Michael's humble opinion. Also, he realized it must be something of a habit for them, it couldn't be the first time this happened, which alarmed the white-haired boy. His eyes regularly drifted back to Eden's bruised wrist, and he kept on wondering who was the asshole who dared hurting an Elysian being like her. She looked like the purest china doll one could find. All the tattoos and piercings in the world couldn't take away that aspect of her, and one had to be a monster to even lay a finger on her against her will.  
“And YOU!” A fuming Luke with red cheeks and a finger pointed to Michael's chest turned to him, “are you fucking retarded?! I told you only hours ago to stay away from her and first thing you do when you leave is to go find her? Are you on a death wish?!”  
A concerned frown wrinkled Michael's forhead and he shook his head in confusion. “What the hell are you talking about? Why would I be on a death wish?” He gazed back at the girl whose eyes were closed, and her lower lip bitten down, as if in anticipation of what was yet to come. “I don't get what's going on here, all I know is that somebody hurt Eden, and you should probably be mad at them instead of her – or me, by the way.”  
The girl's eyes snapped open when she failed to hear Luke's reaction. She watched her brother stand tall and walk up to Michael until he was so close that he could tower over him with his 6'4'', looking more threatening than any verbal menace could ever achieve.   
“I care about my sister more than myself, don't you tell me what to do,” Luke spat. “If you want to help- fine, go away. Turn around and never come back, that's the only way you can help her.”   
As the boys kept arguing, Eden tried to calm down, clear her mind. This situation was a huge mess, and if she had so much as an ounce of common sense, she would have listened to her brother the first time he told her to not see Michael again. But she was a silly little girl desperate for affection, and this pure, innocent boy was ready to give it all to her. She knew that she abused of his kindness, that she was being selfish by seeing him again, but she couldn't stop herself – knowing what awaited her once she went back home.   
“Not an option,” Michael defied him, not blinking once. “I wanna know what the fuck is going on, and I want to know right now.”  
She tried not to listen and focus on the skyline she could make out in the night from the window of her kitchen. The small, tarnished and dirty window, barely allowing any sunlight through. No light, but the sound, oh she could hear everything that happened out there at night, the cars driving by, the honks, the alarms, the screams. She could hear the voices coming from down below.   
Luke scoffed, looking away and rubbing his face with both his hands. “Now, now, it keeps getting better, now you demand things.”  
“Luke, stop it!” Eden finally shouted at her twin brother. He was about to protest when she spoke again. “Shut up, both of you!” She held a finger up in the air, gesturing them to wait a moment, she was listening. With her trembling hands, she managed to push the window open despite the rusty metal parts and she heard it.  
“They're here,” she said, and Luke's face fell. “I saw the same car when Michael dropped me here after our date, they were following us.” The colors had left the twins' faces before Michael could muster up the courage to ask what was coming. “We need to hide him.”  
“Hide me?” Michael suddenly exclaimed. “I'm not going anywhere!”  
“Now is not the time, we'll explain later,” she told him with a seriousness he had never heard before. Her eyes were steady and her mouth twisted in a severe expression he wished he'd never seen on her. That's the kind of expression he'd seen in series when the warriors were readying themselves for the upcoming battle. Granted Michael had seen too many series in his life, but still, it shook him.  
His inner rambling was interrupted when he felt a strong grip on his left bicep, and Luke led him away. He opened the door and showed him the stairs. With a finger before his lips to gesture him to be silent, Luke pointed upstairs. Michael nodded.   
“If they hear you, you're dead,” Luke felt the need to say out loud, barely a whisper but still menacing enough for Michael to take it seriously. “Don't come down, whatever happens. I'll come and get you when it's over.”  
Never in his entire life had his feelings been in such a mayhem. His heart beat chaotically and he feared that he'd pass out, momentarily forgetting to breath – but he feared to make noise if he started breathing too loudly. Michael took one long, slow inhale, and he waited and waited. Nothing had ever felt as long as the wait in the corridor of this dreadful building. 

*

“What did you think you were doing, huh?” Ash asked, not waiting for an answer. Eden glared at him, though she didn't dare say anything. “Don't look at me like that you slut!” He slapped her, but the only sound in the room was the cause by his palm hitting her cheek, she refused to give him the satisfaction of showing him how much it hurt.   
“I went to the hospital for my wrist,” she stated in a flat tone. “I bumped into him there, and he drove me home, that's it.” Michael couldn't get involved in this more than he already was. If there was even the slightest chance that she could convince Ashton not to go after the poor boy, she had to seize it.   
“You wouldn't have to go to the hospital if you were a little more careful,” he simply said, pushing Eden down on the couch behind her. After his guys burst into the twins' flat, they brought her to him, knocking Luke out on their way, despite her screams. “The boys told me you put up quite a fight when they came for you. You'd think you'd be a little more enthusiastic to see your boyfriend,” Ash purred into her ear as he sat down next to her, possessively putting his arm around her small shoulders. Eden felt her lip throb from the slap and she knew she'd have a bruise tomorrow.   
Her entire being screamed her to punch him square in the nose, like Luke had taught her to and then go for a run and not once turn around, but she silenced her mind and tried to stay reasonable. He had his arm around her, he was beefy and tall and he was far from being alone. If she could outrun him and maybe sneak away in the dark of the night, she couldn't do the same for all the guys with him.   
“Eden, Eden, Eden...” he said in a hushed tone. It revolted her to hear him use her name, she felt violated for every time he had pronounced it. Like it lost a bit of its holiness. “Why did you drag this boy into your mess? Show him where you live? That was a stupid move,” he shook his head, his dirty blond locks bouncing, adorning him with a false candidness. She fell for it once, and she hated it.  
“He's just an old friend from High School, what do you want me to do? Shut myself away and not speak to anyone but my brother?” She spat, regretting her words as soon as Ash's fingers went to grab her chin forcefully, making her meet his furious glare.   
“Shut up you filthy whore, you should feel lucky I even allow you to stay with that piece of shit of a junkie you call your brother. I know he's turning you against me,” Ash replied, abruptly letting go of her.   
Eden wanted to rub away the feeling of his hands on her face, but she knew she couldn't. Oh yes she knew his touch was something she had to endure. How many times had she wished to rub him away? How many showers would she need to take to finally forget about his touch once all this will be over? Is it even possible? She would need ten more hands to count on her fingers the number of times she wished she would die – anything rather than be his whore. But she stayed, no matter what he made her endure, no matter the circumstances, she had to be quiet and obedient, at least for a little longer.   
Eden yelped in pain when he grabbed her by the hair and yanked her head back to the point where it hurt, leaving her throat exposed. He didn't wait for her consent before diving toward her neck and biting there, not trying to be careful but only to mark her, to leave so many bruises there that nobody could ever doubt that she was his and only his. And the girl didn't protest when she felt his hand creep under her skirt and pushed aside her underwear, she remained still when he forced his fingers inside her, or when his other hand let go of her hair and started groping at her breasts like he wanted to permanently bruise her there, or when he started pumping his fingers inside her, oblivious to the fact that she wasn't ready at all and that it burned and hurt. Eden had endured it before and she knew she could do it again, in silence, obediently, but how many more times? 

*

“Argh,” Luke hissed in pain when Michael slammed a bag of ice on his forehead. Ashton's boys had knocked him out earlier, his head hit the coffee table pretty badly. He didn't know how long it had been since he passed out. “Shit.”  
“Shit,” Michael repeated. “Shit! That's all you find to say? Shit?!”  
“Shut up, I need to think,” Luke demanded, gesturing Michael to stop pacing around like a madman and sit down.   
Blood was dripping on Luke's t-shirt and he groaned at the thought of his sister giving him hell for ruining this one too. His sister who's been taken away God knows how long ago, while he was there, unconscious, and Michael up there, hiding and waiting for Luke to come get him. Luckily for both of them, he was never a very patient person and he came back when he deemed it had been long enough. He found Luke on the floor, blood on his forehead and no sign of Eden in the apartment. The door had been kicked in, it was on the floor.   
“Where did they take her? Who are they? WHAT IS GOING ON?!” Michael shouted.  
Luke's ears rang and he winced. “God, stop talking so loud, my brain hurts.”  
“Then give me some goddamn answers, or I'll go yell at the police station,” the white-haired boy threatened, knowing it wouldn't do any good to bring the cops in this mess. At least it seemed to have an effect on Luke, who sobered up immediately.  
“Don't even think about it,” he stated, his voice dangerously low. “They are with Ashton, they are all part of this gang,” Luke gave a sort-of explanation, but Michael blinked in confusion. “He's her boyfriend.”  
“Boyfriend?” Michael's throat closed up on itself and it felt like he couldn't swallow anymore. There it was, the boyfriend he feared she had. But why wouldn't she tell him? Unless...  
“It's complicated, we don't have time for the whole story,” Luke decided, rising up and throwing the bag of ice on the table. “She'll explain better than me anyway. I'll tell you what you need to know on the way.”  
“On the way to where?” Michael questioned.  
Luke looked at him like he was stupid for a split second before saying, “to his place. To Ashton's. We're getting her back.”  
Michael followed him reluctantly through the apartment as Luke gathered a few things, including a suspicious bag he hid under his mattress but he didn't question it and simply followed. Once they had ran down the stairs from their floor down to the first floor and jumped into Michael's car – after Luke had gestured him to give him the keys – Michael decided it was time to get his answers.  
“Now tell me everything,” he said, the door barely closed.  
Luke sighed heavily. “Eden made a lot of poor life choices after out parents died, short after graduation. One of those includes dating this guy, Ashton. Back then we had no idea who he was, he was just some guy she liked and she was in her 'go big of go home' period, she wanted to feel alive and this danger-is-my-second-name guy was a perfect fit.” Luke turned abruptly to the left and Michael's hand flew to the door handle to steady himself. “We had money issues. Serious issues. Ashton provided what we needed for a while, and he made sure we were safe. I didn't like it, but I had my own problems to deal with, I started doing drugs and got Eden worried and the last thing we needed was to turn our back to Ashton. That is, until he started getting violent.”  
“Violent how?” Michael wondered out loud, interrupting Luke's story-telling. His green eyes grew a shade darker at the twin's words. The blond boy's eyes met his for a short second, and he winced. Even the words were painful.  
“Emotionally violent, trapping her in a relationship she wanted to break free of, and physically, that's for sure, I've seen what he does. The bruises barely have time to heal before he makes new ones. I've wanted to kill the bastard for a long time. He just keeps getting worse. I don't know much though – only the outline of it – Eden doesn't tell me much, she doesn't want to have me worried,” he admitted. “Open the bag.”  
Michael's eyes didn't leave Luke's profile as he took the suspicious backpack into his hands and zipped it open, expecting the see anything but the Glock pistol he found inside.  
“What the fuck, man?!” Michael shouted, letting go of the bag.  
“I've never had any proof, but I'm guessing he also abuses her sexually,” Luke eventually said, disregarding Michael's outburst when he saw the gun. “My sister's tough, I know that. But she shouldn't have to be. I should have done something long ago. She deserves a guy like you, someone who will take care of her.”  
“I thought you didn't like me,” Michael ventured to say.  
“I don't. As her brother I won't ever like anyone who's been or will be in her pants, but you're still the best option there is,” Luke scoffed, turning right this time.   
“What are we going to do? If we kill anyone, we'll go to jail,” Michael felt the need to point out, earning a sarcastic scoff.  
“Thanks Sherlock, I know that. I was planing on scaring them. It's not even loaded, I don't have that kinda money. Found this little guy in the street actually,” Luke explained, eyes still fixated on the road. “They can't see you, you stay in the car and be ready to go when I come back with her. There's a chance they'll hand her over to me, but not to you. Ash will become even more violent if he sees you, that jealous fuck.”  
“I can't just stay here and wait,” he tried to protest, almost hitting his head when Luke brought the car to a stop.   
“This is a family issue, you stay out of it. She'll need you after that. She can't come back to our apartment, they know how to find her.”  
Luke was about to exit the car when Michael stopped him. “Wait! They know where I live too.”  
“I doubt that,” Luke shook his head. “If they did, you'd be a bloody pulp by now.” Michael had to admit he had a point there. “But they know your car. All the more reason for you to keep low profile and stay here. Sorry to tell you that, but you gotta say goodbye to this little man,” Luke said, patting the board with his right hand, the left one still on the door handle. “Don't do anything stupid, I'll be back with her.”  
And with that, he jumped out of the car and shut the door, running away with his backpack in one hand, looking like he was going on a murder spree. Michael hadn't even noticed when he took the bag from him. For a split second, he wondered how the hell he managed to put himself in this massive pile of shit, but then a picture of Eden flashed in his head, and he realized that maybe, it was all part of the plan. From the very first time he saw her, he knew he'd do crazy things to get her – and now he could prove her just how much he cared about her.   
She deserved better. He deserved better. And hopefully, they deserved each other.


	6. Cold Coffee and Cosmic Love

Her hands were shaking. Not trembling, not quivering, but shaking. The kind of shaking you couldn't stop and couldn't control. Eden had no idea what came over her, maybe she finally came to her senses. When Ashton took advantage of her, she had taken the habit of shutting her mind off until he was finished, but this time, something snapped inside her and without knowing exactly what she was doing, she felt herself grab onto the first object she could put her hands on, and she hit him. Minutes passed before she broke free from the torpor she was thrown into when the man's body fell onto hers, heavy and unconscious.   
There was blood on her hands now. Her fortune weapon was tossed away and she stood up, suddenly eager to get away from her tormentor. Her legs almost gave way but she stood still and tried to breath evenly, to calm down her shaking hands. Something was blurring her vision. Tears, she trusted, were probably streaming down her cheeks, although she was too numb to feel anything. Once again her body reacted more quickly than her brain and she found herself running away. She knew the way by heart, even without seeing anything clearly she could find her way out of this godforsaken, miserable place.   
She came to a halt when her body hit something. Still crying, she immediately recognized the familiar scent and all of a sudden, everything seemed to fall back into place. The deafening sound of her own heart beat left place for her sobs and she wrapped her arms around her brother's frame. Luke was here, everything would be fine now.  
“Eden,” he called her name, startled by her unexpected appearance. He didn't think she'd be alone. As soon as the surprise dissipated, he wrapped his arms around her shaky little body and stroked her back in an attempt to calm her down. “Eden, it's okay. You'll be fine, I won't let him lay a hand on you ever again.”  
An empty promise, she knew it, but it was still heart-warming to hear it. They were both very aware of the fact that what Ashton wanted Ashton got, but this time they were ready to put up a fight.   
“Luke, Luke, I-” She tried to explain what happened, pushing away a bit, but her mouth was at loss for words, she couldn't put the words together and tell her twin what happened. He eventually noticed the blood on her hands. Not much of it, but still.  
“Are you hurt? Is it your blood?” He quickly asked, making sure to ask yes or no questions since she didn't seem in good enough shape to give more elaborated answers. The girl vigorously shook her head and Luke sighed in relief. “Whose is it then?”  
“Ash's,” Eden croaked out. “I hit him. He's unconscious. Wha-what if I killed him?”  
“Then he got what he deserved,” the blond boy frowned at the sound of your worried tone.   
“I don't wanna go to jail- I don't-,” she breathed out, wiping away the tears on her face. After Luke assured her that she wouldn't, her breath got a little more even and she could see clearly, her sight no more blurred by the flowing tears. “We can't stay here.”  
“I know, follow me,” Luke grabbed her hand and led her through the corridors, part of the building she had never been before. “Nobody's guarding the back door, looks like most of his minions are not here. We gotta hurry, Michael's waiting outside in the car.”  
“Michael is here?” She gulped down.   
“Couldn't get rid of him. He's on full mode white knight in a shiny armor to save you,” he explained quickly, turning left. Now she could see the door.   
“Does he know?” Eden asked before Luke opened the door. They seemed to be completely alone, there was no sound to be heard. “What did you tell him?”  
“Only what he needed to know,” Luke assured her. “The rest is not for me to tell. Besides, I don't know much.”  
“You wouldn't want to know Luke, believe me,” Eden said, a sad smile on her lips. “It wouldn't do any good.”  
“I know. I hate this jerk, god I-” He interrupted his sentence. “I want to kill him so bad, Eden. I want him dead.”  
“Me too. But we can'-”  
“I know. Now let's get the hell out of here.”  
With one hand, the one that wasn't holding Eden's hand, Luke pulled the door open, and the fresh evening air hit the girl like a wave. The air filled her lungs and she breathed in what smelled like freedom. Next thing she knew, they were running, and soon Michael's car entered her field of vision and they got in. Not a word was exchanged and Michael hit the pedal, soon leaving Ashton's house far behind. 

*

Luke had asked they stop by Eden and his apartment, because he needed to go get a few things before leaving and never coming back. The stop lasted less then five minutes, they didn't own much. Luke took his laptop, everything he needed for College and a few items of clothing. Eden grabbed their spare money and stuffed as much of her stuff that she could in one of Luke's sports bag, and they left, not once looking back. Finally, they'd never see this shithole again.   
Twenty minutes later, they were at Michael's apartment, which seemed awfully small with three persons and a confused cat in it. Somehow, they still hadn't exchanged more words than necessary. All three of them knew that it was not the moment, they all had an eventful day and needed rest.   
“You two take the bed, I'll sleep on the couch,” Michael said, breaking the silence of the room.   
He doubted that he'd find sleep anyway, so why not let them have their night of recovery? Worry was eating away at him, it felt like acid in his stomach, burning and upsetting his body. He saw in what state Eden was, he saw that she was only wearing a man's shirt and probably nothing underneath, and he wanted to punch something, scream and throw up all at the same time. The sheer thought of what happened to her in that house made him want to jump back in his car and go all the way back there to beat the guy who did this to a bloody pulp. Her makeup was smeared all over her face, and neck harbored bruises that weren't there before, and it looked like he bit her bloody. She had purple bruised on her legs and her hair was a crow's nest, like someone had been pulling at it until it was irrevocably tangled. And the blood on her hands, god, he hoped it didn't belong to her.   
“Okay,” Luke simply said.   
He too looked rather poorly. The bags under his eyes threatened to turn blue and his advanced state of tiredness, and anger added to the fact that he was currently getting off of drugs resulted in a exhausted Luke. He didn't wait for Eden to catch up and simply slouched on the bed, falling asleep almost before his head touched the pillow.   
Eden was sitting on a chair, looking straight ahead of her, as if her mind wasn't in her body anymore.   
“I should go,” her mouth said, her eyes still fixated on one imaginary point.   
“Eden,” Michael said her name in hope that she would look at him, but it was to no use. It didn't eve look like she heard him. She was in shock.   
He watched her rise and walk to his bedroom, and soon, she was out of sight. Michael sighed in defeat and kicked his shoes off before sitting on the couch, his elbows resting on his knees in a pensive gesture. It was midnight according to his DVD player. Six hours to go before sunrise. 

*

It had been a long time since the last time Michael pulled an all-nighter, and he wasn't sure how long it would take him to make up for all the lost sleep. He had peeked through the ajar door of his room to see if everything was alright, and he saw the twins sleeping tight, hugging each other like their life depended on it.   
He made coffee at some point. It was cold now though. He turned on the TV and turned off the sound, but there wasn't anything good so he turned it off again. He laid down and stared at the ceiling for so long, an arm tucked under his head and the other one resting on his stomach, but whenever he closed his eyes he thought he heard Eden whimpering in the other room and dashed out of the living room to check on her.   
Even Nirvana was fast asleep. It was four in the morning, Michael was sitting on his couch, elbows resting on his knees and eyes wide open, when he heard something, and this time he was certain it wasn't coming from his imagination.   
“Hey,” a soft voice called behind him. When he turned around he saw Eden standing a few feet away from him, looking sheepish. “You're not sleeping.”  
Michael shook his head. “No. And you neither.”  
The shadow of a smile appeared at the corner of her lips as she said, “Luke's snoring. It woke me up.”  
There was a minute of comfortable silence and small smiles expressing complicity. Then she cleared her throat.  
“Do you mind if I take a shower? I feel dirty, I can still feel him on me,” she explained, a furious blush tainting her cheeks.   
“Sure. Make yourself home,” Michael told her. He showed her the bathroom and went back to the couch, waiting for her to come back. Less than twenty minutes later, he heard the door open and she was there again. This time she walked straight to him and sat down beside him.   
“Feeling better?” He asked. Eden smiled and tucked her hair behind her ear. It was a deeper shade of pink when it was wet, he noticed. She wore clothes too big for her. He realized they must belong to Luke, and she probably chose them for coziness.   
“Yes, thank you,” Eden said, fidgeting with the hem of her sleeves. “I'm so sorry, Michael. I never wanted you to get involved in this. I tried to stay away but-”  
“Hey,” he said, lightly bumping his shoulder against hers, earning a sky smile in response. “There's absolutely no need to apologize to me. I've wanted to get involved with you for as long as I can remember.”  
His attempt to joke was welcome and the girl relaxed a bit, allowing her head to rest on his shoulder. He smelled nice. She wanted to dive her nose in his plaid and breath in.   
“This is silly,” she finally said. “We're both silly.”  
“I'm sure you're right, but care to tell me why?” The white-haired boy asked, confusion painted all over his face. His pierced eyebrow shot up.   
“Because you had a crush on me in high school and I on you and neither of us did anything about it,” she laughed lightly, as if taking a weight off her shoulders by saying that. Michael froze, she could feel him tense up, and Eden lifted her head to look at him. When she met his eyes, there was something in them that she couldn't quite decipher.   
“You- you're-” Michael mumbled, unable to word his thoughts. His eyes were sparkling, and he looked like you just gave him the most precious gift. “No.”  
“No what? You don't believe me?” Eden said, feeling emotional suddenly. “Why do you think I was at that frat party? I heard you and your friends would be there, so I sneaked in.” He looked starstruck. “I was just shit at expressing my feelings, sorry it turned out so messy. Back then I thought you'd take the hint and pick up from there. And when you didn't I sort of gave up.”  
“You're messing with me,” he said, and the girl sighed. Her fingers wrapped around his chin to make him look at her again when his eyes drifted away.   
“I'm not. I couldn't believe my eyes when I recognized you after four years!”  
“Welcome to the club,” he scoffed, amused but still not believing her. She took his hand in hers, and Michael's smile disappeared. What if she was telling the truth? What a waste of time it would be.  
“But I don't think it would've worked out if we had dated back then. Finding the right person at the wrong time feels really shitty. And when you showed up again, it was at an even worst time of my life, but you just didn't give up,” she told him, her grip on him tightening.  
Another scoff fell from Michael's lips. “How much of an idiot would that make me if I let you slip between my fingers twice?” This time he used his free hand to wrap around her shoulders and bring her closer to his body. Eden hummed in pleasure as she let her head rest against his shoulder again.   
“I never want to live that again,” she said. He didn't have to ask what she was talking about.  
“You never will. Luke will make sure of it, and me too,” he promised, silently vowing to protect her from whoever would try and mistreat her in the future.   
“Do you want to know what happened?” She asked, rather unsure but still ready to fill in the blanks left by Luke's quick update on the situation.   
“Only if you want to tell me,” he said.   
“I want to,” she assured him. “What did Luke tell you?”  
“He said that after the death of your parents you were both in a bad place, short on money and each of your mourning differently. You turned to Ashton and he turned to drugs. You were too caught up in your own sadness to realize the gravity of the situation you put yourself into and he was too far off to notice,” Michael said, the words heavy on his tongue.  
“Yes, that's it. Ashton was handsome and he looked a bit dangerous, I wasn't myself, I wanted to feel alive again, and I thought that he might just be the guy to achieve that miracle. Turns out I was wrong.” Her mouth was dry from saying those words. She had been dead wrong. “He managed to make me depend on him. He paid for whatever we needed, our bills, our rent if we were short, and even my wardrobe. Our parents weren't rich. When they died we sold the house, because we couldn't stand living there anymore, and we used the money to pay for Luke's tuition. He's a fucking genius, he scored a 180 on his SAT, and got accepted to MIT, I couldn't let him pass this opportunity. I work as a hostess in a restaurant to pay for the apartment while he goes to college. I always thought our situation was temporary, that once Luke graduates, we'll leave this life behind and forget about Ashton, but it kept getting worse... At some point, Luke snapped and told me to stop seeing him. I didn't care, so I told Ash we were through. That's the first time he became violent.”  
Eden felt Michael's hold on her tighten when she mentioned Ash hitting her. She wasn't sure how she felt about his protectiveness, but she resumed.  
“The months passed in a blur, I barely remember what happened between this first time and that day we met in the street. All I know is that I had to keep up an act for Luke. I hid the bruises, wore a smile and pretended really hard to be happy. I knew just by looking at his eyes that he didn't believe a word of what I said, but it's not like we had much of a choice. It was that or living in the street. Not to mention that Ash would need less than a week to find us if we decided to run and live under a bridge.”  
She was thankful for Michael not to interrupt.   
“I always shut myself off when I was with him. Like my soul wasn't even in my body when he took me, whether I wanted it or not. I never wanted it. I stopped wanting it after the first punch he threw my way. I had a black eye for two weeks. And I remember you being so gentle and kind and that almost had me in tears because I suddenly realized what I missed. I was trapped in an abusive relationship for so long, and then you appeared out of nowhere and wrecked my life. I tried to ignore him, Michael, I really tried but then he came to threaten Luke, and I couldn't have that, I couldn't-”  
“Shh, shh,” Michael hushed her, soothingly stroking her back as Eden broke in tears. Her body was shaking with each sob, and Michael kept rubbing her back, doing his best to chase away her sadness, showing her that she was safe now, that she would always be safe with him. “Eden, it's all over now. It's over, I promise.”  
“I-I know. Thank y-you for staying,” she kept on crying. Though it wasn't sadness, it was relief now. It was gratitude. It was the perspective of a new beginning. “W-what are we going to do now?”  
“We'll figure it out. For now you stay here with me,” he said. He had no idea what was going to happen in the next days, or even the next hours, all he knew was that he couldn't let her out of his sight. She was here, in his arms and it felt right. Suddenly, the cat jumped on Michael's lap and started meowing and patting his thigh. “And Nirvana, of course.”  
A soft laughter escaped Eden's lips, and she reached out to caress the cat who purred for her.  
“Of course with Nirvana,” she chuckled. “I think he's hungry.”  
“He always is,” Michael sighed amusingly, giving her a dramatic gaze before rolling his eyes. “I'll grab some coffee, do you want some? It's cold though.”  
“Yes please,” Eden nodded and took the cat on her lap while Michael fetched some food for him and coffee for them. “You know, maybe we finally made it,” she said, laconically.  
“Huh?” Michael hummed, frowning.  
“So far it was never the right time, but now it finally feels like it,” she said. “Nothing's standing between us anymore.”  
He laughed and put the food in Nirvana's bowl before grabbing two cups of cold coffee and making his way back to the couch. Nirvana had jumped off of Eden as soon as he smelled food.   
“Like some kinda star-crossed lovers?” Michael chuckled, his low and warm laugh making her heart flutter.   
“No, that's lame,” she said, pursing her lips. “Like Han Solo and Princess Leïa,” she decided. “Never the right time, always in the middle of something. And utterly clueless when it comes to expressing feelings.”  
“That's more like it,” Michael agreed.   
Snuggling against him, Eden sighed in content and closed her eyes, allowing herself to nuzzle him, placing small kisses in his neck. Michael let out the slightest moan, but she heard it and she took it as an encouragement. She left his neck and looked up, meeting his eyes, still sparkling when he looked at her and they both leaned in.   
“Permission to kiss the princess?” Michael asked, making her smile. She nodded and leaned in, placing her lips on his and finally, finally getting a taste of what a real kiss felt like. 

*

They fell asleep after feeding Nirvana. When Luke woke up he found Eden curled against Michael on the couch, both of them sleeping soundlessly. He rolled his eyes at them, wondering how they managed to be so oblivious to their mutual feelings for so long. He wanted to get a cup of coffee, but it was cold.   
When they were all awake and caffeine loaded, they talked about their next move. After two days of discussion and negotiations, they finally settled for something. Eden would stay here with Michael. He lived far enough from Ashton for her to be safe here, and she could keep her job as a hostess. The money would go to Luke, so he could live on campus until he graduates. It'll be hard and money will be short for everybody, but it's not like they had another option.   
Luke was against the idea at first, but he also didn't want to stay here and witness his sister and Michael sucking off each other's face, so he eventually agreed to this. Eden made him pinky promise that he wouldn't go back to drugs or sleeping around, and Luke groaned and argued that pinky promising was for kids and after brooding a bit and complaining about how stupid that was, she managed to make him do it anyway. She knew he'd keep his promise, he never broke pinky promises. But just in case, she told him to come to her if he ever felt like going back to his old demons.   
“Hey,” Eden whispered to a sleepy Michael. She had just returned from work.   
Despite his drooping eyelids, the relief on his face was obvious. The first two months, he insisted upon picking her up at work so she didn't have to walk home alone, but she convinced him to let her walk. He always stayed up until he was certain she had made it home safe and sound.   
“You're here,” he said before yawning. He stretched and got to his feet. Before the girl could get rid of her shoes and coat, he had joined her, lifting her from the ground.   
Eden gasped and laughed at the tender gesture, her small hands resting on Michael's large shoulders. The boy put on down and his hands slipped under her coat and shirt, eagerly lifting it up to he could feel her under his palms. She smiled in the kiss he pulled her in, and shrugged off her coat, letting it fall to the floor. A scandalized meow interrupted their reunion. The coat fell on Nirvana. Michael laughed and lifted it from his cat, freeing the animal.   
“Come,” Eden said, biting on her lip as she looked at her boyfriend. Her kind, gentle, caring boyfriend who she knew she could always rely on and trust with her life. “Let's go to your room,” she smirked, pulling at his sleeve.   
Michael grinned from ear to ear, still a bit in a haze and barely believing he got lucky enough to have her as partner. Unbeknownst to Eden, Michael adoringly gazed at her whenever he thought she wasn't looking, never getting rid of the fuzzy feeling twisting his insides when he set eyes on her gorgeous face. She literally radiated happiness since that day Luke and him went to Ashton's to get her. Her hair seemed pinker, and her eyes beheld more gold than brown now.   
As soon as the door was closed, she captured his mouth for another kiss, and her hands worked to get out of her shirt and to unbutton Michael's plaid. His heart was bursting from bliss, and he could drop dead any moment being content and happy.   
“How many times will I have to tell you?” He asked when he managed to detach himself from Eden's lips. “It's our bedroom.”  
She smiled but did not answer. She knew it, and she kept saying 'your bedroom' because she loved to hear him correct her. Michael suspected so. But for now, he pushed the thought to the back of his mind and focused on more urgent needs. Once they were ridden of their clothes, he gave a small squeeze to her thighs, gesturing her to jump and wrap her legs around him, which she gladly did, and he carried them both to his – their – bed. Michael had decided the moment she kissed him on his couch that first time that he would never let her go. He had waited long enough and now it was time to be happy, for the both of them. He would stay here, with her in his arms, his Eden, his paradise.


End file.
